They’ve scored just 35 tries from 13 games so far this season, but NRL strugglers St George Illawarra deny they need to overhaul the competition’s most impotent attack.

Having dropped outside the top eight with just one win from their past five matches, the Dragons on Monday returned from a refreshing bye adamant that an offence that has scored a league-low 190 points can still be effective.

“We’re still creating opportunities … I don’t think it’s a real issue for us,” hooker Nathan Fien said.

“Just our execution or the last pass isn’t sticking, we’re not putting it away and scoring points which is unfortunate, but that’s where we are at the moment.

“We’ve had a look at it (our attack) but it’s not crisis times for us here at the Dragons – our defence is keeping us in a lot of those games and that’s what we’ve been built on the last few years.”

But while the defensive regime instilled by former coach Wayne Bennett remains as stingy as ever – with their 224 points conceded the fourth best in the NRL – the Dragons appear to be going backwards in attack.

Even under Bennett the Dragons were more proficient, scoring between 20.1 and 22.8 points per game in his three years with the club.

Under new coach Steve Price, that has dropped to 14.6 points per game, which translates to one converted try less per outing.

Considering five of their seven losses – including two in golden point – have been by 12 points or less, it’s clear to how much impact the stagnant attack has had on the club’s position on the ladder.

“We’re very confident in what we’ve got here at the Dragons, we trust our systems and our coaching staff,” Fien said.

“We know if we play with the effort we have been the results will start to turn around and come our way.”